# Puff Monthly Tobacco Review: Rattray's Red Rapparee



## Nick S. (Jul 10, 2011)

It is April, so pop open your Red Rapparee and start smoking, if you haven't already. When you are ready post your thoughts, comments, and reviews in this thread. I am excited to see what everyone thinks of it!


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## Nachman (Oct 16, 2010)

I popped open a two year old tin of Red Rapperee a couple of weeks ago in preparation for this months review. When first opened it emitted the musty smell of Orientals (what we used to call Turkish). The appearance is a mixture of blond and brown tobaccos with just a sprinkling of black. I would guess the blonds are orientals, the browns Virginias and I have a hard time deciding if the blacks are Latakia or unsweetened black cavendish. I am told the blacks are Latakia, but my nose and palate can't detect any Latakia.
On light up, my mouth is first greeted by a slight mild Virginia sweetness. About 1/4 through the bowl a little oriental spice starts coming through. Throughout the bowl this oriental spice builds until, by the end, it tastes like a Russian Papirosi, but not as harsh. Papirosi are a Russian cigarette which consists of a cardboard tube with a short cigarette on the end of it. They are strong Turkish tobaccco. I don't know what variety of orientals are in Red Rapparee, but they are the type that were used commonly at one time in Turkish pipe tobaccos. It sort of gives RRR an old fashioned taste. I like this tobacco as a hot weather blend and smoke a few tins of it every summer. Three out of four stars for me.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

The Kohlhass, Kopp & Co. website says it has "spicy Latakia" in it and I definitely get a whiff of it in the jar but smoking it less so. I've had only a few Rattray's blends, HOTW, Old Gowrie and this Red Rapparee, so I'm no Rattray's expert at all. Of those, this is definitely my favorite by far. I've put a few bowls full through the Mayfair now and thoroughly enjoyed them all. I'm not sure what they're getting at with, "It burns in the pipe with the spontaneity of a fine cigar," but it does stay lit quite well. (Hopefully they're not talking about spontaneous combustion -- I'd hate to leave a full pipe lying around and have it accidentally burn down the house. Do cigars suddenly burst into flame in the humidor? Maybe that's what all that humidity is for. :lol

This is the first of the Rattray's that I'd consider ordering another can of, but I think I'd prefer either more Latakia or none at all. I can't think of anything quite like it, offhand, which is a good thing. I vaguely remember Dunhill Aperitif being somewhat similar, but I can't be sure. All in all, a very good smoke! The orientals are quite tasty at the last, as Nachman points out, more pronounced than other oriental mixtures I've smoked recently. Probably the Cavendish adding a little extra sweetness to the smoke early on, but there's nothing "aromatic" about it at all. Definitely a solid three star tobacco for me too.


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## Nick S. (Jul 10, 2011)

Nice reviews guys, keep 'em coming!

Jim, you might like Black Mallory I have heard it has a bit more Latakia in it. I cant say for sure though, I have only had some that was 12 years old and the Latakia was very mellow. As for the RR I am planning on opening my first tin of it this weekend.


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## DanR (Nov 27, 2010)

I didn't need to pop a tin for this review, as I always have some open and jarred as part of my regular rotation. I really love this tobacco. When someone mentions "oriental" tobacco, this is what I think of. To my palate it has just the right amount of Latakia to add a touch of campfire smokiness to the mix, and there is just enough Virginia in there to add sweetness as well, but the orientals are really the star. Like Nick (Nachman), I am reminded briefly of the Turkish tobacco in the cigarettes that I used to smoke, only the tobacco in this mixture is far superior, giving it a nice spiciness that you only get from orientals. When I'm looking for an earthy, spicy smoke this is the one I find myself reaching for most often. Four out of four for me!


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## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

Jim was kind enough to send me enough Red Rapparee to review for the month, as the description I read didn't sound particularly enticing. I've smoked 3 medium-ish bowls, and still have a little left, but probably not enough for a whole bowl. Much appreciated, Jim!

To be brutally honest, I don't know exactly what oriental is supposed to taste like...but this is supposed to be an oriental heavy blend, so I guess this is it LOL. On light up, I get a nice slightly creamy sweetness (from the Virginias, I assume). Shortly thereafter, I pick up some peppery spicyness. It's not at all a black pepper flavor, more of a red pepper maybe? Like cayenne except much milder? The sweetness combined with the spicy pepper reminds me of hot cinnamon candy. I get a spicy tingly mouthfeel as well. I'm sensitive to some overly peppery-spicy stuff (HH Angler's Dream was WAY over the top with cinnamon for me; DPG Cigars are a black pepper overdose for me), but this isn't too much at all, it's well balanced. There is also a sort of tangyness underneath that I just barely detect. I guess "tang" is the right word...."sour" or "tart" sound harsher than what I detected; it was very subtle. The overall flavor profile seems somewhat reminiscent of something from Sterling Tobacco...American Patriot maybe? The burn was FANTASTIC with very few relights, and I smoked it right out of the ziplock bag that Jim sent me, zero drying time. I'd call the nicotine level mild-medium or maybe medium.

Decent stuff. I certainly like it better than the Uni Flake from last month. Recommended if the flavor profile tickles your fancy. My initial impression is that it didn't blow me away and probably won't make it into the rotation...not that I didn't like it, it just didn't blow me away.


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## gahdzila (Apr 29, 2010)

I'm smoking some Sterling American Patriot now. This is definitely the one I was thinking of... it's similar to Red Rap but perhaps not as close as I was thinking. American Patriot has a somewhat similar sweetness up front followed by a strikingly similar spicy-pepper (though not as spicy as Red Rapparee), but American Patriot seems to have some earthiness underneath which gives it more depth and complexity.


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## Nick S. (Jul 10, 2011)

Rattray's - Red Rapparee
From the package:_ "Medium English Mixture". _I always find it interesting when companies decided to not put any kind of flowery tobacco description on the product, and instead decide to let the tobacco stand on its own reputation and the recommendation of others. That being said, I really don't know what I was getting myself into with this except that it is what the blender decided to call a "Medium English Mixture". So let's dig in.

In The Tin/Pouch
Upon popping open this tin I was greeted with a can stuffed full of sweet and smoky smelling tobacco. The tobacco itself is a ribbon cut that is an even mix of color range from light brown to black. The moisture level seemed too high for my liking, so I decided some drying time was necessary. 

The Burn
Once dried out for about a half hour or so this stuff lights very easily. Even when I didn't dry it out it lit easily and burned well. Surprisingly, I never got any gurgle or excess moisture while smoking this tobacco, even when I didn't let it dry first. 

The Smoke
Like I said, I smoked this from straight out of the tin to very dry, and I noticed the drier it was the stronger the flavor seemed to be. I found the flavor has some sweetness to it as well as a hint of a citrus note, most likely both due to the Virginias. I also experienced a bit of a spiciness to it that was stronger the drier the tobacco was. I found that even when abused it didn't bite, and the smoke only got overly hot when over puffed. 

The Packaging, and Price
This tobacco is available in 50, and 100 gram tins as well as 500 gram bags. The 100 gram tins are a different sixe than the McClelland 100 gram tins, they are narrower and a bit taller and I would bet the sq in capacity is less than with the McClelland, which would explain why the tobacco is packed in so tight. This isn't the cheapest tobacco, www.smokingpipes.com sells the 50 gram tin for $10.41, the 100 gram tin for $16.07 and the 500 gram bag for $69.43. The best deal I have found however is at www.jrcigars.com where they only sell the 100 gram tin but it is a steal at $12.00 a tin, which comes out cheaper than the 500 gram bag (5 100 gram tins is only $60).

The Bottom Line
This tobacco is very similar to EMP yet it has a bit more oomph to it think of EMP as vanilla ice cream and Red Rapparee as vanilla bean ice cream. For a while EMP has been my preferred Virginia/Oriental blend. But Red Rapparee has a bit of a bolder flavor and I think it has unseated EMP for now. If you haven't had EMP or Red Rapparee think of your favorite English blend and remove the latakia, that is essentially what this category of tobacco is. The only thing I could complain about is the fact that it seems a bit moist out of the tin. I think that the actual volume of tobacco is about the same as a 50 gram tin of EMP, which comes nice and dry and well packed into the tin. However, I still like it and will buy more.


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## Desertlifter (Feb 22, 2011)

Packed the wife and daughter off to Pullman for mom's weekend at the university, so it's time to relax. I had a bowl sized sample from my B&M that I had dried and readied for the bowl. Better yet, empty house and sunshine = smoke in the recliner and crack the windows/door. Good stuff.

The tobacco itself was cut in long ribbons that seemed evenly blended with the Virginias/Orientals that are advertised as ingredients. On the nose it showed a bit of smokiness in the background and little else. The bowl packed easily and evenly and lit with no effort.

The initial taste notes that I got from this were a peppery perique-like flavor and an obvious citrus sitting in the background. Not much else going on here, at least early in the bowl. On the retrohale I get a slight sweetness, the citrus, and that's about it. The bowl continued with much the same. Slightly peppery, bits of citrus, and a subtle sweetness only readily apparent when I slowed WAY down. On the other side of that coin, when I ramped up there was no bite, and the tobacco stayed lit down to the last bit of the bowl.

Ultimately I would describe this as "meh." Maybe I'm just in a sweeter tobacco phase, maybe my palate is still developing, but Red Rap just didn't do much for me.


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## DanR (Nov 27, 2010)

Okay, I think I can settle the debate as to whether Rattray Red Rapparee contains Latakia or not (I can't remember in which thread we got to talking about this, so I'll just post here). I recieved a shipment of Rattray's today, and they have started including a nice small brochure/catalog in the tops of all the containers. Here's the page describing Red Rapp:










They must've read Jim's post about "spontaneity", because they've changed that statement too. :biggrin:


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

DanR said:


> They must've read Jim's post about "spontaneity", because they've changed that statement too. :biggrin:


When I speak, the seats of power tremble. :lol: Great that we have the definitive answer. :tu


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## DanR (Nov 27, 2010)

freestoke said:


> When I speak, the seats of power tremble. :lol: Great that we have the definitive answer. :tu


Indeed. You should choose your words carefully from now on. Oh wait, I almost forgot who I was talking to there for a minute... ound:


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## DrRus (Jun 5, 2012)

One of my top 3 tobaccos and by far my most favorite "English". Always keep a pound of it in stock.


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